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DeputyDog wrote:
Don't hold your breath waiting for a SF type to show up at any Mass meetings. We're not interested in debates with guys like you who live for nothing else. We're not interested in taking our case to the DMR or to the ASMFC or NMFS.
Actually Stripers Forever did make their case to NMFS at the Portland Maine hearing. Pitty though that they didn't have the stones to show up at the Mass hearing. Really, it was a missed opportunity for SF considering that Paul Diodati and other Mass DMF staff were present. SF is so quick to bash the DMF (from behind their keyboard of course) yet they choose not to face them in a public forum for fear of being exposed for what they are - which a farce.
Deputy Dog wrote:
When you have only one goal, who needs an E Board meeting?
What is that one goal again. Is it to ban commercial fishing, or is it to keep the EEZ closed to everyone including recreational anglers? Or is it something else? I guess we won't know because the only answers one can get from this group are from emails that they may or may not chose to reply to.
You only will support a cause when you are out front leading the charge.
I'm not sure what you are referring to hear but I have a hunch. Let me be very clear. Unless I specify that I am writing on behalf of an organized cause or a specific group, my personal comments on the various fishing websites are just that - my personal comments. That said, there are a number of issues that I discuss with great passion that I do not "lead the charge" on but that I like to think I offer some insight to (saltwater fishing licenses, opening the EEZ, etc...)
Deputy Dog wrote:
You may not have a commercial license, but you know a whole lot of guys that do! I think that most recreational fishermen should treat you as what a lawyer would call a "hostile witness".
I can take the lies from SF because I expect them.
I can take being charactarized as "hostile" especially when it is coming from a group that is trying to force folks out of work by all hostile means available.
But one thing I can't stand is when someone who has never met me somehow thinks he knows me.
For the record...
- I do not posess a commercial license for any species of fish
- I never have posessed a commercial license species of fish
- I have never sold any species of fish and I do not plan to
- To my knowledge, the number folks that I know personally who do hold a commercial license for strped bass numbers exactly 1 and I couldn't even tell you if he sold any fish this past year.
- Even if I did know several commercial folks, I would consider it an asset (great source of annectdotal data) and not a liability.
So why do I write so much against SF's efforts? Because I see them as just another unAmerican group trying to push a touchy/feely agenda - freedom be damned! In my opinion, Stripers Forever is not only motivated by a visceral contempt for commercial fishermen, but also by a contempt for those who simply do not fish like them.
Take the following quote from Mr. Burns regarding the EEZ for example...
"Additionally, I would add, it is the shore-based, or near shore fishermen that have historically targeted school sized stripers that have been left out of the striper’s recovery. And these anglers make up the vast majority of the fishing public. They, not the fat cats who can afford offshore boats, should be accommodated first."
This is nothing more than class-envy at its worst. I'm not a "fat cat" but I do go out on a couple of charters each year. Who is Stripers Forever or anyone else to tell me how I should fish based on my means? This is a very socialist argument and as an American I found this rhetoric to be completely nauseating.
DeputyDog, I am all about learning and getting things right. I try to look at all issues with an open mind and I take in information from many, many sources. If you wish to discuss the substance of Stripers Forever's positions (if any exists) then by all means please do. However, if all you can manage as a response to those who disagree with you is to point out that they made some typos, then I think you need to do a little more homework in order to represent your group a little better.
Friends don't let friends join Stripers Forever
Later,
Mike Flaherty
Quincy, MA
P.S.
If anyone is wondering why all of a sudden the Stripers Forever folks are now coming out of the wood work, it is because Brad Burns has instructed them to. The following is an excerpt from a recent message from Stripers Forever. Rather than defend his own positions, Mr. Burns is instructing his lemmings to do it for them.
SF wrote:
We need some help from our members this winter in spreading the word about SF and its single goal of gaining game fish stature for striped bass. Specifically, we need some volunteers to post our information to the various chat rooms and to defend our mission against the inevitable attacks that will be made.
...
If you like the forum environment and you want the opportunity to make a valuable contribution to our cause, please email our website to the attention of George and we can discuss how we can begin.
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